South Korea Hopeful North Can be Induced to Return to Nuke Talks

South Korea's senior nuclear negotiator is hopeful that delivery of assistance can induce North Korea to return to long-dormant negotiations aimed at its permanent denuclearization, Bloomberg reported on Friday. "The prospects of the normalization of the relationship between Pyongyang and the international community, and eventually a lifting of sanctions, all those benefits will be a strong incentive for the new leadership,” South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam said. The six-party talks encompass China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia, and the United States. They propose to reward North Korea's phased denuclearization with timed infusions of economic assistance and international security guarantees. Pyongyang abandoned the negotiations in April 2009 and one month later conducted its second nuclear test -- an action that was swiftly penalized by heightened U.N. Security Council sanctions against the already impoverished nation.

The Obama administration at the end of 2011 was reportedly in talks with North Korean officials on the supply of food aid in return for Pyongyang's halting of all uranium enrichment -- a process that can produce weapon-usable material. The death of longtime North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il apparently brought those discussions to an abrupt break as the nation entered a period of mourning and the transition of power to Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

Lim said that while Pyongyang has not given any serious signals it is prepared to return to talks, there is the chance the new regime might be more open to engagement with the international community than its predecessor.

Before the December death of Kim Jong Il, there had been "meaningful progress" in efforts to reinvigorate the nuclear negotiations, Lim said.

"Our reading is that Pyongyang [following the death of the elder Kim] is pretty stable," Lim said, adding the South has not received any reports that would hint at political disruptions in the North.

Pyongyang on Thursday issued a list of preconditions for improved relations with the Seoul that include ending all joint U.S.-South Korean military drills and an apology from South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for not offering formal condolences to Pyongyang after the death of Kim. South Korea rejected those demands.

Economic assistance from China could undermine prospects for a restart of the six-nation talks, Korea Institute for National Unification researcher Kim Young-yoon said. 

"It's unlikely that the North will rejoin six-party talks because of economic concerns. China is giving them enough aid to sustain them at the moment and South Korea is also giving humanitarian aid," he said.

Beijing props up North Korea as a means of preventing regime failure in Pyongyang, which could send refugees pouring into China and ultimately strengthen the United States if the two Koreas reunify under Seoul's leadership.

Lim called for China to do more to persuade Pyongyang to return to the regional nuclear talks. He is slated to visit Russia next week for discussions with his six-party talks opposite. "We might have to wait for some more time [to restart the six-nation talks] but I'm basically optimistic that the new leadership in Pyongyang could make the write decision," Lim said .